On February 27, 2021, the ACS Division of Education hosted the first American College of Surgeons-sponsored "TEAMS" (Tele Education Assisted Mentorship in Surgery) course on Oncoplastic Breast Surgery Techniques. The course was conducted in partnership
with the Texas Surgeons Summit, a virtual meeting between the North and South Texas Chapters of the ACS. While the driving force for this course was under the Regional Skills Course for Surgeons in Practice, this course had a global audience with
instructors and learners from sixteen US states, Bahrain, Brazil, China, England, Greece, and Spain.
The course was designed for general surgeons and breast surgeons to learn and adopt oncoplastic surgical techniques. Participants learned a variety of skills including how to perform breast marking to hide scars and optimal incision placement for tumor
excision during a reduction mammoplasty. These skills provided learners with a knowledge base to improve team communication and collaboration with their plastic surgery colleagues to improve cosmetic outcomes following oncologic resections.
This novel educational methodology uses remote, hands-on simulation using high-fidelity, low-cost models and one-to-one longitudinal mentorship to teach and support the safe adoption of new surgical skills. Participants received packages with simulation
models, instrumentation, and industry-sponsored in-kind donations in the mail prior to the course. The course had high satisfaction ratings, provided seven hours of continuing medical education credit, and was supported by industry educational grant
support.
Dr. Taylor Williams, our inaugural Surgical Simulation and Education Research Fellow, was able to develop these projects as a result of his training in the ACS-Accredited Educational Institute fellowship at UTMB’s Sealy and Smith Laboratory for
Surgical Training Assessment and Research (LSTAR). (Photo)
“TEAMS” has also been successfully used to teach a variety of surgical skills to learners at all levels (high school, medical school, residency, fellowship, and surgeons in practice) using remote, hands-on, high-fidelity simulation and one-to-one
mentorship.1-7 Additional “TEAMS” courses are currently in development with great promise to enhance the educational impact of traditional in-person skills courses.
For additional information, contact Alexander Perez, MD, FACS, at aleperez@utmb.edu or V. Suzanne Klimberg, MD, PhD, MSHCT, FACS, at vsklimbe@utmb.edu
Acknowledgments:
The authors would like to thank Clifford Snyder, MPAS, PA-C, Educational and Administrative Director of the LSTAR, and Shannon Delao, Coordinator of the LSTAR, for all their hard work and commitment to this project and the mission of quality improvement
via patient-centered, team-based, lifelong education.